Trans World Airlines, Inc. v. Franklin Mint Corp. et al. (466 U.S. 243)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 17, 1984 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 466 U.S. 243 · 104 S. Ct. 1776
- Decided
- April 17, 1984
- Term
- October Term 1983
- Vote
- 8–1
- Majority author
- Justice O'Connor
- Issue area
- Economic Activity
- Disposition
- Affirmed
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice O’Connor delivered the opinion of the Court. The question presented in this litigation is whether an air carrier’s declared liability limit of $9.07 per pound of cargo is inconsistent with the “Warsaw Convention” (Convention), an international air carriage treaty that the United States has ratified. As a threshold matter we must determine whether the 1978 repeal of legislation setting an “official” price of gold in the United States renders the Convention’s gold-based liability limit unenforceable in this country. We conclude that the 1978 legislation was not intended to affect the enforceability of the Convention in the United States, and that a $9.07-per-pound liability limit is not inconsistent with the Convention. I In 1974 the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) informed international air carriers doing business in the United States that the minimum acceptable carrier liability limit for lost cargo would thenceforth be $9.07 per pound. Trans World Airlines, Inc. (TWA), has complied with the CAB order since that time. On March 23, 1979, Franklin Mint Corp. (Franklin Mint) delivered four packages of numismatic materials with a total weight of 714 pounds to TWA for transportation from Philadelphia to London. Franklin Mint made no special declaration of value at the time of delivery. The packages were subsequently lost. Franklin Mint brought suit in United States District…
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